Need for Speed ​​Unbound: If you pay more, you can start three days earlier

Need for Speed ​​Unbound seeks to reverse the series' downtrend with an underground return: comic book effects, street art, and a hip-hop soundtrack aim to breathe new life into old virtues. Publisher EA is now commenting on the forthcoming release on December 2, 2022 and providing information on preload, crossplay and more.

Pole position is going well-heeled players

Accordingly, PC players will be able to download the new arcade racing game from the early evening of November 24th, as will owners of an Xbox Series X|S. On the PlayStation 5, however, the preload will not begin until the morning of November 26 at the earliest, provided that the Palace Edition, which costs around 80 euros, has been pre-ordered. Buyers of the standard edition, which costs around 70 euros, have to wait three more days.

And the start of the game is also staggered – as is now almost customary with triple-A publications. The Palace Edition starts on November 29 at 8 a.m.; at the same time, subscribers to EA Play Pro can also drive off with a total of 143 vehicles. Subscribers to EA Play (without Pro) and Microsoft Game Pass Ultimate also get access to the trial edition, which lasts around ten hours. Standard Edition buyers will have to wait until December 2nd at 8am.

Crossplay, steering wheels and system requirements

Playing together across platform boundaries is restricted to multiplayer modes; there crossplay between PC, PlayStation and Xbox will be possible. However, there will be no co-op mode for the campaign. The same applies to cross progression, which is also not offered. For both PC and console gamers, developer Criterion lists a selection of “thoroughly tested” wheels for Need for Speed ​​Unbound, including the models below.

• Thrustmaster T300RS (PS5, PC)
• Thrustmaster TX (Xbox, PC)
• Thrustmaster T150 (PS5, PC)
• Thrustmaster TMX (Xbox, PC)< /li>
• Logitech G29 (PS5, PC)
• Logitech G920 (Xbox, PC)
• Fanatec CSL Elite Racing Wheel (PS5, PC, Xbox)

EA announced the moderate system requirements a few weeks ago, and nothing has changed since then. The developers have not commented on potential ray tracing support; only DLSS is mentioned – it remains open, however, in which version, but presumably DLSS Super Resolution (formerly DLSS 2) is meant. No mention of FSR or XeSS.

Need for Speed ​​Unbound will run in UHD at 60 FPS on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, while players on Xbox Series S will have to settle for 1280p at 60 FPS.